For years, the pundits have called on Samsung to ditch the plastic casing on its high-end phones. Reviewers have said it leaves the phones — which often cost upwards of $600 without carrier subsidies – with an air of cheapness.

And for years, the company didn’t seem to pay those criticisms much mind. But with evidence mounting of a slide in its dominance of the global high-end smartphone market, that may be changing.

On Wednesday, the company quietly released a full slate of high-end smartphones called the Galaxy Alpha, which mobile division chief J.K. Shin said in a statement was “built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumer markets” — an apparent nod to those long-running complaints.

To be sure, the entire casing won’t be metal. The metal frame is confined to the four edges of the phone. On the front, of course, is a glass screen measuring 4.7 inches diagonally, while the “tactile soft back cover” boasts a stippled pattern reminiscent of the Galaxy S5.

The company said in its statement that it took “a fresh approach” to the hardware design, but remained virtually silent on software features. Most of the gadget’s specs, Samsung said, were the same as those on its flagship Galaxy S smartphones, with newly-unveiled features, including a battery-saving mode and a fingerprint scanner, part and parcel of the new Galaxy Alpha.

Details on pricing weren’t announced, but the phone is expected to be rolled out globally in five colors.

The release of the phone wasn’t unexpected. During the company’s quarterly earnings call late last month, Kim Hyun-Joon, a senior vice president at Samsung’s mobile-communications business, said the company was preparing the launch of two separate high-end smartphones in the second half of the year to stem an earnings slide, one of which would feature “new materials.”

The other, which Kim described as a large-screen smartphone, is expected to be the next iteration of the Galaxy Note smartphone-tablet hybrid, which the company customarily releases at a trade show in Berlin in September. Samsung has already published advertisements telling the public to “Note the Date” of its next big release on Sept. 3.

By naming its new phone the Alpha, Samsung appears to be nodding to a broader reset within its mobile division.

It is unclear whether the Galaxy Alpha alone will do much to change the company’s fortunes. Last month, Samsung said its second-quarter net profit dropped 20% from the same period a year earlier, its first year-on-year quarterly earnings decline in nearly three years.

Independent market data research firms show Samsung losing its grip on consumers across Asia. And in developed markets like the U.S. and Europe, an expected refresh of Apple 's high-end iPhone could take more market share from the Korean smartphone maker.